Pork Chops & Spiced Apple Sauce (a Whole30 recipe!)

This is one of my favorite recipes from doing Whole30 last year. I am gearing up in my mind for doing another round of Whole30 (not anytime soon, in a few months) so I wanted to unearth a few of my favorite recipes that are easy and delicious and don't feel like diet food. That's what I really loved about Whole30 - everything we ate on the program was real, fresh whole foods. Lots of veggies, protein and healthy fats. This pork chop is no exception - it's super simple to cook (pork chops used to intimidate me), and the apple sauce is really easy and really makes the dish pop with flavor. Stevie asked for this one over and over when we were on Whole30, and we've continued to make it since coming off the program, too!

Ingredients:
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. pepper
- 2 bone-in pork chops (about 1 pound total)
- 3 tbsp. oil olive
- 1 onion, sliced
- 2 apples, peeled, cored and diced
- 1/2 cup apple cider (in a pinch you can use no-sugar-added apple juice)
- 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp. allspice
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- 2 generous handfuls of arugula (or frisee or spinach, you can see the spinach pictured here)

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix the salt and pepper in a small bowl and use it to season both sides of the pork chops.
3. Melt oil oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the olive oil is hot, add the pork chops and sear until you see a golden-brown crust, about 2-3 minutes. Turn over and sear the other side for 2 minutes.
4. Transfer the pork chops to a baking dish and roast in the oven 10-15 minutes, depending on thickness. (If you have an internal meat thermometer, you want the temperature to reach about 140 degrees).
5. While the pork is roasting, combine the remaining 1 tbsp. olive oil and onion in the same skillet. Cook over medium heat until the onion is translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Add the apple, apple cider, ginger, allspice and nutmeg. Cook until the apples soften, about 5 minutes.
6. Optional step - transfer the apple sauce to a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. I say this is optional because we have eaten this recipe with both smooth apple sauce and chunky, and it's delicious both ways.
7. Dress the plates with your green of choice (mine is arugula, because it's the perfect pinch of spice), and top with the pork. Dollop the applesauce on top and bon appetit!

And there you have it! It's really simple to execute this meal and it feels so hearty and wholesome. Also, a word on apple sauce - it is perhaps the most versatile food ever. I love finding new ways to serve it, bake with it and prep different dishes with it. Last month I shared about the different ways I make apple sauce, and included this wonderful spiced version. Let me know if you decide to try this recipe out and what you think of it! Happy cooking, friends!

P.S. - If anyone has done Whole30 while breastfeeding, I would love to hear from you! I'm interested in learning how to safely do the program without sacrificing my milk supply. Give me a shout in the comments with any advice or tips! Many thanks :)

Almond Butter, Maple & Sea Salted Cookies.

I love the week between Christmas and New Years. All the hubbub from the holiday is behind and I feel like I can finally settle into some peace and quiet, and reflect on the coming year. I love writing out all my family's birthdays in my new planner and making goals for the fresh year. There is something cleansing about this week. Of course, this year, things look entirely different, with my newborn waking me up at all hours and filling my days with exhausting and wonderful snuggles. I am so grateful that this little boy decided to make his debut before 2017. Thank you Daxton!

I wanted to share this cookie recipe because this is the week for baking! And sharing cookies with relatives and hunkering down and watching movies. This is one of those recipes that is a bit more guilt-free, according to the author (you probably know how much I love the recipes from Gwyneth Paltrow's book, It's All Good). She claims that these cookies give all the satisfaction of a treat with no guilt (I can attest to that). This recipe is free of sugar, so the cookies are the perfect sweet pick-me-up when you're really trying to be good but craving something a little sweet and salty. Kind of carmel-ly, almost. Actually, they're a little dangerous to have around the house, for that very reason. They're still a cookie, but using maple syrup and almond butter, instead of traditional ingredients, lowers the overall glycemic index of this baked treat. So enjoy!

Ingredients:
- 1.5 cups flour*
- 1/2 tsp. fine sea salt
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 cup natural almond butter
- 1 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp. Maldon sea salt (I get mine at Williams Sonoma, but you can also snag it off Amazon in this two-pack. The most delicious salt on Earth, seriously.)

* If you would like to make this recipe gluten-free, feel free to use a gluten-free flour. If the flour doesn't include xanthan gum, make sure to add 3/4 tsp.

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Whisk together the flour, fine sea salt and baking powder.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the almond butter (I heated mine to make it more whisk-able), maple syrup and vanilla.
4. Thoroughly combine the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
5. Use a spoon to scoop out tablespoon-sized dough and roll into a ball in your hands. Space the cookie dough balls about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
6. Press each dough ball down a bit, so it forms a disk on the baking sheet.
7. Sprinkle each cookie with a bit of the Maldon Salt.
8. Bake for 10-12 minutes, and make sure to let the cookies cool on a rack before serving.

Yum you guys. These are best if served with, what else - MILK. Santa would have probably liked these. Haha TOO BAD. Love to you all. Let me know if you make these! Would love to know what you think! xo

Sweet Potato & Five-Spice Muffins.

I might tear up a little while I talk about these. Because I've been making a batch of these muffins every week for the past few weeks and YOU GUYS. They are so good, so moist, so absolutely autumnal and the perfect breakfast or snack for my boys. And the ingredients are so clean, I don't feel any kind of bad eating them either. I found this recipe in my Gwyneth Paltrow cookbook, It's All Good, but I tweaked it a little bit by cutting the sweetener and baking powder/soda.

Lately, every morning when my 2-year-old wakes up, the first thing he says (or shouts, rather), is "Is my muffin ready?!!!" And when I tell him yes, and ask him if he would like it heated up, he says no. He likes his muffin cold. He is the funniest little person, seriously.

For the record, I like my muffins hot, with a double batch of coffee on the side :)

I know he's not a muffin but I had to take his picture because he was so sweet and his eyes were so blue. He wanted to demolish these so very badly and I love him to pieces for trying his best to have self control.

Ingredients:
- 1 large sweet potato
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 cups whole-wheat flour
- 1.5 tsp. baking powder
- 1.5 tsp. baking soda
- 1.5 tbsp. Chinese 5-Spice powder

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place sweet potato on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 60-70 minutes. Set sweet potato aside and let it cool completely.

2. Peel the sweet potato, discarding the skin, and mash with a fork (or a potato masher) in a large mixing bowl. Add the melted coconut oil, almond milk, maple syrup and vanilla into the sweet potato mixture, whisking thoroughly. Then add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, five-spice powder and salt. Continue to mix well. This is where my heavy duty mixer comes in real handy and does all this wonderful hard work for me. But if you want to exercise your wrists, you can easily use a hand mixer for this, too.

3. If you're using this Williams Sonoma gold touch muffin pan (it comes in this bakeware set which I totally stand behind), then you need to only spray down the pan with olive oil or my personal favorite baking spray. Otherwise, line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners and evenly distribute the muffin batter among the cups.

4. Bake at 400F for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the muffins cool before serving.

Note:
- I cook 4-6 sweet potatoes every week and keep them in the refrigerator, reheating as needed. If you're like me and have maybe a potato or two left over at the end of the week, this is the perfect way to use those up!

- You can make these gluten free by replacing the whole-wheat flour with gluten-free and adding 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum.

- I always, always make a double batch of these. This past weekend I made a triple batch and brought some to a friend. I promise, doubling or tripling up will be so worth it. You can easily freeze these and bring them out whenever you have company coming over. Voila! A healthy, delicious snack!

Happy munching, friends!!

Freezable Breakfast Burritos.

I haven't really cooked in 6 months.

This pregnancy really did me in. I spent the first three months sick, and the following three months busy. And annoyed with cooking. The desire to nourish my family absolutely vanished. And that's really abnormal for me, because I usually find that a simple waltz through Williams Sonoma can cure me of any culinary-related boredom or ailment. But not this time, friends.

Well, since returning home after our month-long stint in New York, I was suddenly struck with the eagerness to bake muffins. And soup. And stew. And then I saw my friend Liz's instagram post about making her family breakfast burritos in bulk and freezing them and I was re-bitten by the cooking bug. I should make everything in bulk AND FREEZE IT.

I know that's not, like, a new idea. But the idea came at just the right time. And let me just say, my boys are really really happy that I'm back in the kitchen.

We played around with this recipe and came up with our own preferred ingredients. And it's so easy and wonderful to have a delicious, nourishing breakfast that is ready as early as you are. Because I don't know about you, but over here we are up at 6 and I wake up voraciously famished. The recipe + method are below!

Ingredients:
- 1 package Aidell's Chicken + Apple Sausage, diced
- 12 eggs
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 package frozen hash browns
- 12 flour tortillas
- Shredded cheese
- Salt + pepper to taste
- Olive oil
* wax or parchment paper
* large, freezer-safe zip-top bags

Method:
1. Heat up diced sausage and diced onion in a medium skillet, over medium heat. Add a bit of olive oil to the pan, just to keep things from sticking. Cook until everything is heated through and the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a mixing bowl, set aside. Keep the skillet heated over medium, add a bit more olive oil.

2. Crack and whisk the 12 eggs in a large mixing bowl, adding salt and pepper to your preference. Add the eggs to the heated skillet and stir until cooked. Transfer to a clean mixing bowl, set aside.

3.  Heat the hash browns in the same skillet, according to the instructions on the package. Set aside into a third mixing bowl.

4. Heat the tortillas on a dampened paper towel for 10-15 seconds, or until warm and malleable.

5. To compile the burritos, create an assembly line with the ingredients. Take one tortilla and add 1/3 cup size of scrambled eggs, followed by the sausage/onion mixture, the hash browns and finally sprinkle with cheese. Tuck the outer edges in first, then roll the tortilla (it will fold over in thirds). Place the tortilla seam-side down on wax paper, and completely roll and wrap the burrito with the paper.

6. Repeat this method until you run out of ingredients!

7. Place the wrapped burritos in large, freezer-safe zip-top bags. Store in the freezer and remove as needed. This recipe should make you about 12 burritos.

A few notes on these burritos:
- It helps to have a buddy with the assembly line. Stevie and I compiled these in about 15-20 minutes after all the ingredients were cooked, and it really helped to have him wrap and roll the burritos after I added all the ingredients.

- When you're ready to eat, you can throw the burrito in the microwave (take off the wax paper first!) and heat for 1-3 minutes. It helps to use the "defrost" setting on your microwave, if you have one.

- If can you remember to remove the burritos from your freezer the night before you want to eat them, they will defrost beautifully in the refrigerator and heat more evenly when you do microwave them in the morning. So if you can remember, make sure to pull them out of the freezer the night before!

- You can serve these with salsa if you like, although I find that I like them just the way the are.

- I doubled this recipe and we had breakfast for a few weeks that I didn't have to think about preparing. It was simply bliss.

Let me know if you try these out, friends! Happy cooking + freezing + and eating a blissful breakfast!

My 12 Favorite Summer Recipes.

Lavender Lemonade Icee

Soda & Sugar Pulled Pork

Boiled Artichoke & Lemon Butter

Pulled BBQ Chicken Tacos

Turkey & Poblano Pepper Stew

Artichoke & Olive Quinoa

Acai Berry Breakfast Bowl

Good Morning Green Juice

Proscuitto, Melon & Mozzarella Skewers

Good Morning Green Juice

Lentil Tabbouleh

Black Bean & Quinoa Burgers

Summer is the time for light fare and alfresco dining. Picnic meals, juicy bites here and there; snacks consisting of drippy popsicles and garden-fresh tomatoes and icy watermelon. I savor summer cooking and eating, incorporating those tantalizing fusions of citrus and pepper, barbecue and cilantro, acai and avocado. These ingredients are tailored for the messy canvas that is the summer kitchen - smeared cutting boards and smoky skillets and hissing barbecue creations with taste that lingers playfully on the tongue. I eat it up. Literally.

I'm grateful to finally, finally, be able to cook again. It's been a long three months of eating grilled cheese and English muffins and little else. With my renewed sense of appreciation for taste, I am gleefully flipping through my favorite old summer recipes, eager to savor everything sun-ripened and juicy-frozen.

Sharing a few of my favorite with you today. Happy tasting to you, friends. :)